Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Electrostring wrote:Duesenberg just came out with a Mike Campbell guitar... of the two this take on the 350 is more interesting,imo. A limited run 350V89 might be an idea. Still, somehow I already see the threads about new owners changing the scratchplate to white, the knobs to vintage black, wiring to 5 knobs, refins... I'm in need of a break from RRF as well, I'm getting grumpy

As long as people own screwdrivers they will change guitars. Some people like plain, some people like fancy - that's diversity Werner...chill out

Between the Nashville floods, recent thefts of guitars and stages falling on them, I wonder if making back-up replicas will become the new trend for the big acts. I suppose they wouldn't be back ups, since they would become the main stage players as this would allow the real ones to stay home or in the studio. They are getting to be too valuable to play.

I too was able to try out the "MC" prototype that was at NAMM. It's as Rich reported; wide, flat, and with a very shallow curve depth. The guitar was a joy to play. If I owned a couple of these, my Gretsch Jet models might stay in their cases permanently. . .

godber wrote:As long as people own screwdrivers they will change guitars. Some people like plain, some people like fancy - that's diversity Werner...chill out

It's time Obama's going to do something about screwdriver ownership before there are more innocent victims

johnhall wrote:

LenMinNJ wrote:John: Will the 350V89 (if that's what we've been calling the 350MC 'til now will be called) be offered through your dealers?

There are no immediate plans to do so and I really don't know what the future will bring on this one.

Thanks for the response, John.

If we gathered a critical mass of pre-orders (with deposits) that could be placed with one of your dealers to help you make your decision, what would that number of orders be?

JakeK wrote:The deal with the 350 was that they were making the 660/12 Tom Petty model, and asked Mike if he wanted a guitar, which became the 350 we know today. Tom's prototype 660/12 and Mike's 350 were both made in 1989, so there's a good chance they have the same neck.

I've been revisiting the specs of the neck on Mike Campbell's 1989 custom 350 (which I'll call "350MC"). My interest was revived by the pictures of the 350V89 prototype shown at NAMM 2013.

Both have a 24-fret, dot inlay neck. We don't know for certain, but I'm assuming that they both have a 1.75" width at the nut, like the 660-12TP made at the same time as the original 350MC. The folks who've examine both the original 350MC and the 350V89 say that they also have an unusually flat neck profile, unlike any other Rickenbacker guitar.

Since both necks have 24 frets and a glued-in design (with a tenon that fits in a pocket - a mortise - rather than a neck-through design) it's clearly not a 660 neck, which is a 21-fret neck and is a neck-through design extending the entire length of the guitar.

But for the original 350MC guitar, Rickenbacker could have started with a neck blank for a 660. They would have had to lengthen the neck and heel, fit a 24-fret fretboard, and modify the wood that normally becomes the center part of the 660's body into a tenon.

It's possible they did all that for a one-off for Mike's custom guitar, but if they were to go into production, they'd need to make the neck correctly from scratch, instead of re-working 660 neck blanks.

So, from what I can tell, if someone wanted to make a 350MC replica, they'd have to go the route of either seriously modifying a 660 neck or building one from scratch, because there's still no current Rickenbacker model that has a neck that's close to the 350MC neck's specifications.

Have I missed something? Are there any Rickenbacker six-string guitars other than the 660 that have the 1.75" width at the nut?

LenMinNJ wrote:Have I missed something? Are there any Rickenbacker six-string guitars other than the 660 that have the 1.75" width at the nut?

Well, recent 330-series one-offs had a 660 neck, and they're not neck-through, although all 21fretters

LenMinNJ wrote:...
Have I missed something? Are there any Rickenbacker six-string guitars other than the 660 that have the 1.75" width at the nut?

650

ken_j wrote:650

Right - it does have 24 frets and is 1.75" wide at the nut. Thanks!

It turns out that the 650 necks have different issues. Besides being neck-through, they also have a shaped neck heel. And the recessed pickups and different bridge height (relative to a 350 or 660) changes the depth of its neck and the height of its fretboard above the body. All of those factors make using a 650 neck even more difficult than a 660 neck.

Electrostring wrote:Well, recent 330-series one-offs had a 660 neck, and they're not neck-through, although all 21fretters

Oh - that's potentially very interesting! To which one-offs are you referring?

LenMinNJ wrote:Oh - that's potentially very interesting! To which one-offs are you referring?

This one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rickenbacker-19 ... 7675.l2557

The other one seems to be removed from eBay already... can't find the thread here at RRF

This one is interesting for having a 350 neck and reference to Petty:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rickenbacker-33 ... 1200209729

Electrostring wrote:This one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rickenbacker-19 ... 7675.l2557
[and]
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rickenbacker-33 ... 1200209729

Thanks very much!

The first one is a 12-string, which rules it out due to its very different headstock.

The second one's specs say it has a 1.63" width at the nut.

LenMinNJ wrote:The first one is a 12-string, which rules it out due to its very different headstock.

Doesn't make much sense to me - it's the neck we're talking about, not the headstock shape or the amount of strings

According to sources who have observed both Campbell's guitar and the "back-up", both guitars have a square neck heel, ala the 325 reissues of the era (which includes the V59, V63 and the JL signature model), and Campbell stated in The Guitars documentary on TomPetty.com that it was all based on "John Lennon's guitar on The Ed Sullivan Show". The V59 was the closest thing to what Campbell was referring to and Campbell's original is notable for having a 325V59 pickguard, and the new 2012/13 version(s) were supposed to be an exact duplicate of the original. I have no idea as to whether pickguards on the new versions were specifically designed for the project or if they were left over from when the V series ceased in 2001.

JakeK wrote: I have no idea as to whether pickguards on the new versions were specifically designed for the project or if they were left over from when the V series ceased in 2001.

Judging by some of the comments on the very recent f-hole guitars, looks like the factory have finally started making bespoke guards in limited quantities rather than using (often ill-fitting) leftovers. So these may well be new.

Electrostring wrote:

LenMinNJ wrote:The first one is a 12-string, which rules it out due to its very different headstock.

Doesn't make much sense to me - it's the neck we're talking about, not the headstock shape or the amount of strings

Well, we're talking about the 350MC and 350V89, which are both 6-string guitars.

And in case it wasn't clear, I am thinking about making a replica of the 350MC.